Preview: Charlton Athletic vs. Wigan Athletic

As one of the pre-season favourites to gain automatic promotion to the Premier League, Wigan Athletic have made a rather iffy start to their 2014-15 campaign.

The Latics took the lead against Reading last weekend but were unable to hold on to it, and eventually needed a 93rd-minute equaliser from James McArthur to rescue a point.

A draw on the opening day is by no means a disastrous result, but Uwe Rosler's side followed that up with a very disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Burton Albion in the League Cup on Tuesday.

That shock - arguably the biggest of the first round - drew an angry reaction from Rosler, who will be expecting a vast improvement from his side when they take on Charlton Athletic on Saturday.

However, many sides have seen an upturn in league form without the distraction of cups in recent years, and for a Wigan side that went on another long FA Cup run and participated in the Europa League last season, having just the Championship to focus on during the early stages of the campaign could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Whether or not that will be the case remains to be seen, but Rosler will want a reaction from his players this weekend in what is their first away league outing of the season.

Charlton entered the season with contrasting ambitions to Saturday's opponents having only narrowly escaped relegation last term.

Survival is once again the number one priority this year, although new manager Bob Peeters will perhaps be casting one eye tentatively further up the table.

They also drew their opening match of the season, conceding an 85th-minute goal to share the spoils with newly-promoted Brentford at Griffin Park.

The Addicks were a lot more convincing in midweek as they swept aside Colchester United to reach the second round of the League Cup, and they will no doubt be relishing the prospect of running out at The Valley once more.

Of course, Wigan pose a very different threat to that of Colchester, but the fans are likely to be pumped up for the first home league game of the season, and that could play a part for the hosts.

Lawrie Wilson may well have played himself into the starting XI with a brace on Tuesday, while Igor Vetokele is expected to lead the line once more having impressed his boss so far.

Recent form

Charlton: LWDWDW

Wigan: WLLWDL

Possible starting lineups

Charlton: Henderson; Solly, Ben Haim, Bikey-Amougou, Wiggins; Wilson, Buyens, Jackson, Cousins; Tucudean, Vetokele

Wigan: Carson; Perch, Boyce, Kiernan, Taylor; Huws, Cowie, McArthur; McManaman, Riera, Waghorn

Sports Mole says: 1-3